RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Biggest solar project yet OK’d

The McCoy solar project will cover 7.5 square miles of desert between Blythe and the McCoy Mountains. This image shows the mountain range in the center -- the McCoy development and another still pending would be built in the flat area beyond the peaks and to the left.

A plan to cover 7.5 square miles of desert west of Blythe with solar panels cleared the Riverside County Board of Supervisors this week amid eager anticipation of the jobs it will create and disappointment at the potential loss of wildlife and cultural features.

The McCoy Solar Energy Project is the largest approved so far in Riverside County, both in total area and in the 750 megawatts of power it is expected to generate. Most of it would be on public land just east of the McCoy Mountains, a few miles north of Interstate 10.

The developer, Florida-based NextEra, also is seeking approval to put photovoltaic panels on 6.5 square miles of public land just south of the McCoy site. If both are built, the two projects would cover 14 square miles.

McCoy brings to six the number of active, commercial-scale solar projects approved on public land in the deserts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Three already are operating. Another eight are in the planning stages.

Despite the apparent boom, fewer solar projects have been developed than some leaders had envisioned.

âThree years ago, we were talking about hundreds of thousands of acres (of solar panels),â 4th District Supervisor John Benoit said in an interview Monday.

On Tuesday, county supervisors unanimously approved permits and a development agreement for its portion of the McCoy project, located 13 miles northwest of Blythe. At its peak, it would provide enough electricity for 225,000 homes, according to estimates.

The county has jurisdiction over the 477 acres of the project on private property. The rest â" 4,792 acres â" is on public land under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which endorsed the project a year ago over the objections of environmental and Native American groups.

Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the project would destroy palo verde and ironwood trees and other trees and shrubs that thrive in the foothills of the McCoys. The unusual plant communities there are favored by the desert tortoise, a species threatened with extinction, and provide habitat for various migratory birds, Anderson said in an interview.

An emerging concern is that waterfowl migrating along the nearby Colorado River valley would mistake the expanse of solar panels for bodies of water. Anderson said species with webbed feet need water in order to take flight. Dozens of dead water birds have been found at other solar sites.

The Colorado River Indian Tribes also has concerns. In a letter of opposition, the group said it worries that the development would devastate cultural resources on the land. The site may have human remains, as well as grinding stones, hammer stones, pottery and other objects scared to the Mohave and Chemehuevi tribes, according to the letter.

âDisturbing these artifacts, which are strongly associated with the ancestors who used them, is taboo,â tribal secretary Merving Scott Jr. wrote.

NextEra spokesman Steven Stengel said the company will take care to protect biological and cultural resources during construction and acquire an equal amount of land to be preserved elsewhere.

At a public hearing on Feb. 25, some speakers said they are eager to see the McCoy project get under way. Itâs expected to create jobs for as many as 600 construction and electrical workers during the building phases. When finished, the plant would employ about 20 people in permanent positions.

Construction is expected to start later this year and take about two years to complete.

Robert Frost, with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 440, said the project is vital for workers in the rural eastern edge of the county. The unemployment rate in Blythe was 11.5 percent as of January.

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